"The Addams Family" is proof that in show business, nothing speaks louder than the box office.

The musical suffered through a troubled birth, and the critics' bludgeons struck early and often. Yet three years later, it ends a successful national tour at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Hall that has garnered good reviews and full houses. The tour has recouped its investment, and the Broadway production has undoubtedly earned back its $16.5 million budget. It closed on December 31, 2011 after 34 previews and 725 performances. As of May 2011 it had grossed more than $62 million.

During its pre-Broadway tryout run in Chicago late in 2009, the show was praised by some critics, and it boasted two musical-theater icons in the lead roles: Nathan Lane as Gomez Addams and Bebe Neuwirth as his wife, Morticia.

But theater critic Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune wasn't impressed, saying the show "needs to be funnier and more visually spontaneous."

Producer Stuart Oken agreed. He brought in Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks, winner of four Tony Awards, to help Broadway neophytes Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, the show's directors and production designers. Nobody was fired, but Zaks took the reins.

"We just had some problems inside the creative team ... not only achieving a clear vision but executing it," said Oken, who started his career in Chicago and was co-head of Disney Theatrical Productions for nine years. "That's not a knock on any of the people who worked on it. But you can be fooled. We thought going into rehearsal that we were in terrific shape."

Zaks had been committed to creating a new show with singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, but he was persuaded by what he saw in Chicago to accept the challenge of improving "The Addams Family." And he was impressed with the work of composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa and certain aspects of the script by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the team who penned "Jersey Boys."

"I saw something even in the version in Chicago that felt Broadway-worthy, even though it was in many ways unfocused and needed work. The music, I thought that when it was right was very, very right. The quality of the dialogue was first-rate. But the nature of the storytelling wasn't.

"Still, there was enough that was alive and vital in the show, not the least of which was Nathan Lane's performance." (Douglas Sills plays Gomez in the touring production.) "It made me want to roll up my sleeves and get busy."

The songs "Clandango," "Passionate and True," "At Seven" and "Second Banana" were replaced with "When You're an Addams," "Where Did We Go Wrong?," "Morticia," and "Just Around the Corner." Five other songs were rewritten, as well as some plot details. The changes took place over a scant few weeks.

GOING BACK TO THE CARTOON SOURCE

"The Addams Family" is unusual from other rewritten shows in one crucial respect: it was significantly revised again for the road.

"The truth is that even though we changed a lot of material, we didn't finish the show" before its Broadway debut, Oken said. "When it came time to do the tour, I said to the team, 'Are you done or do you want to take another crack at it?' Very bravely, they all went back to work. The show now reflects the very best that this team could do."

Part of the difficulty was that from the beginning the creators wanted to use Charles Addams' original one-panel Addams Family cartoons as inspiration. They weren't interested in the 1960s TV show or movie versions.

"We challenged the writers to go back and find the essence of these people," Oken said. "I wanted (the musical) to feel a lot deeper and wittier than the films or the TV show."

Douglas Sills (Gomez) and Sara Gettelfinger (Morticia) in "The Addams Family," coming to Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Hall Dec. 18 through 30. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
Blake Hammond plays Uncle Fester. "The Addams Family" suffered through a troubled birth, and the critics' bludgeons struck early and often. Yet three years later, it ends a successful national tour at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Hall that has garnered good reviews and full houses. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
Pippa Pearthree (Grandma) and Patrick D. Kennedy (Pugsley) in a scene from "The Addams Family." PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
Sara Gettelfinger (Morticia) and the company in "The Addams Family." The tour has recouped its investment, and the Broadway production has undoubtedly exceeded its $16.5 million budget. It closed on December 31, 2011 after 34 previews and 725 performances. As of May, 2011 it had grossed more than $62 million. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
Ther cast of the touring company of "The Addams Family." During its pre-Broadway tryout run in Chicago late in 2009, the show was praised by some critics, and it boasted two musical-theater icons in the lead roles: Nathan Lane as Gomez Addams and Bebe Neuwirth as his wife, Morticia. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
“The Addams Family” is unusual from other rewritten shows in one crucial respect: it was revised again for the road. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
The Ancestors of the Addams family. Part of the challenge facing the musical's creators was that from the beginning the creators wanted to usd Charles Addams' original one-panel Addams Family cartoons as inspiration. They weren't interested in the 1960s TV show or movie versions. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA
Zaks had been committed to a show with singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, but he was persuaded by what he saw in Chicago to accept the challenge of improving “The Addams Family.” And he was impressed with the work of composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa and certain aspects of the script by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the team who penned “Jersey Boys.” PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA

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